The Innkeeper

Chapter 2053: Damaged reputation

The dead silence weighed heavily on Wu Kong under the gaze of so many Dao Lords, though Lex felt great about it. Wu Kong was one of his most reliable assets, in a way. Although he did not technically work for the Innkeeper, he was helpful enough. More importantly, Lex could always rely on him to stay true to his nature.

He did not need to see through his illusions, or discern his intentions, or predict his actions. He could just bet that at any given time, Wu Kong was up to no good. The others underestimated him because they relied too much on their senses.

They could not sense Wu Kong doing anything wrong, so they assumed it was so. Lex did not have such a handicap because he just accepted that there was no way the mischievous monkey would miss any opportunity to gain some advantage.

For example, the situation with Voidmaw. Compared to the past few guests, he lacked a certain lethality despite having an impressive reputation. Was that not the perfect target? As far as Lex could tell, it was.

The most beautiful thing about the situation was that if Wu Kong was caught in the act, the prestige of detecting him would go to the Innkeeper. But if he wasn’t caught, by now, his reputation was so soiled that everyone would just believe that only the Innkeeper had been able to detect his actions - even if Wu Kong never actually did anything. He was the perfect scapegoat.

Wu Kong coughed awkwardly, and pulled out his hand, still holding onto a kidney. Without any shame or reluctance, Wu Kong put that away and looked Voidmaw directly in the eyes.

"Your recovery ability is very impressive. I was just testing it out for you - no need to thank me," he said with a nod and was about to leave, but saw the Innkeeper looking at him with a warm smile.

There were no words, no hidden message in his eyes, yet Wu Kong suddenly got chills.

"You know what, on second thought, you can have this back," Wu Kong said, handing Voidmaw back his kidney, three ribs, one bag of blood and a spatial ring.

Yet the more he did this, the more furious Voidmaw became, and the more amused Eclipse became, finally recovering from her flustered state.

"Wu, you should be pleased I am not charging you extra for each of your clones," said the Innkeeper warmly, as if addressing an old friend. "Please refrain from targeting any of my guests during the party lest I feel that you need supervision."

Lex had no idea if Wu Kong had clones or not, but at this point, the truth did not matter. Wu Kong would not reject him, and the others would naturally believe him.

"Hey, my Semi-Sentient Vest is missing," said one of the guests.

"Wait a minute, I’m bald! Where did my hair go?" exclaimed another guest.

"I lost my watch..."

"Hey, my socks are gone..."

"I lost my will to live..."

"You left that at home."

"Oh..."

As Lex heard the guests suddenly complaining, he gave Wu Kong an odd look. Treasures, he could understand, but why did he want, or need, another man’s socks?

Eclipse, on the other hand, found the whole situation amusing. In truth, she too had not detected the monkey’s shenanigans due to her sealed senses, which is why she was surprised by the turn of events, and found them enjoyable.

Ventura, too, did not mind too much. After all, the party had just begun, and there were plenty of opportunities to get back at Eclipse. More importantly, it was essential to ensure his pranks didn’t go too far. Thus, the diversion was welcome.

While Voidmaw managed to show some restraint despite the attention, merely glaring at Wu Kong, the others were not so amicable. After all, Dao Lords were worshipped wherever they went, and many of them became used to being honored and revered. When was the last time they had faced such humiliation?

"Is this your idea of a joke, Innkeeper?" exclaimed one of the guests angrily. "Are you toying with us? You brought us here, made us pay, and for what? So that you could sit back and watch someone rob us?"

Despite facing an angry Dao Lord, the Innkeeper looked completely at ease, though internally that’s not how Lex was feeling. While the Inn could neutralize passive aura, it could not defend him from actual Dao Lords in any capacity. If they so much as decided to nudge him, he was screwed. He needed to defuse the situation, and he needed to do it without lowering the Innkeepers reputation!

"Of course not," the Innkeeper answered. "My sincerest apologies. The purpose of this tea party was to provide my guests with a private venue in which they may converse. Wu Kong, please return all the guests belongings to them immediately. If you continue to disrupt the tea party, I will have to withdraw your invitation."

The accusing Dao Lord clicked his teeth in irritation.

"Do you think such a thing is sufficient compensation?" he asked angrily. Many others nodded in agreement, clearly eyeing Wu Kong and the Innkeeper provocatively. "To me, it seems like it’s barely a slap on the wrist. Maybe he had your permission to act like this all along."

As soon as he said those words, Wu Kong’s awkward smile and goofy attitude suddenly faded. The matter was getting serious now - something he wanted to avoid, which was precisely the reason he only stole random, valueless things. The issue was not the dozen or so Dao Lords challenging him - they were nothing but pleb to him.

The issue was that because of Wu Kong’s actions, the Innkeeper’s reputation was being put into question. Now that was something he could not afford at all. Everything was fun and games as long as the Innkeeper treated it like nothing, but if he decided that this was a serious matter, WU Kong would not be able to bear the consequences easily.

Just as he was about to act to attempt to remedy the situation, the Innkeeper spoke once again.